Ventilators



Dec. 3, 1963 en er Gare/ J/falw's, 5 4 A T TORNE YS Dec. 3, 1963 L.HENNEBERGER VENTILATORS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 3, 1961 INVENTOR.Leo Henneberger AT TORNE YS United States Patent ()fitice an er FatentedDec. 3, I963 Leo Iiennebergcr, I46 lid-vision Ava, lviassapequa, NEI-Filed Mar. 3, i961, er. No. 5,651 Claims. ((35. S-B'?) The presentinvention relates to ventilators.

Known types of ventilators commonly employed under extreme weatherconditions are defective to the extent that they do not adequatelyprovide against flooding or leakage of water through or around theventilator in driving rain or sea and are not readily adjustable toaccommodate weather changes. For some purposes, as for ventilating smallcraft, available devices are excessively costly, inflexible in use andinvolve undue trouble and expense in installation. Also, they areunnecessarily complex and difiicult to maintain in working condition.

An object of the present invention has been to provide a directionallyadjustable ventilating device of relatively few parts which can be madeto advantage from rugged but relatively lightweight material, such asbutyrate, linear polyethylene or the like, and which is so constructedthat it can be securely mounted in operative position on a boat deck, orthe like, and yet be freely adjustable to maintain effective ventilationwithout flooding or water leakage under extreme wind, sea and rainconditions and regardless of wind or weather direction. It has also beenan object of my invention to provide a ventilator of which the componentparts can .be made inexpensively of suitable plastic, can be readilyassembled and can be securely mounted in any desired operative positionwith comparative ease. Other objects and beneficial aspects of thisinvention will be apparent from the description and the accompanyingdrawings.

An embodiment of my invention comprises in general a base and lowerbaffle member adapted to be mounted on a deck or the like and having asleeve extending through a hole in said deck, a frame having a generallycylindrical outer wall portion and an inner wall portion coaxialtherewith and spaced inwardly from and connected to the outer wall by aweb interposed between said walls and provided with drain openings, saidinner wall forming an air duct open at its inlet and outlet ends andsaid frame being rotatably mounted on and in telescoping connection withportions of said base. A housing having perforations extending through alateral wall portion is mounted co-axially on and in position tosubstantially enclose the frame and is freely rotatable therewith todifferent angular positions of adjustment. A sec- 0nd or upper bathe isoperatively mounted in the housing between said perforations in its walland the air inlet end of the air duct of the frame and is accessiblethrough the air outlet end of said air duct for hand manipulation toturn the housing and said frame about their common axis and the axis ofsaid duct. Said component parts are advantageously made of butyrate,linear polyethylene, or material having equivalent physical properties.

An embodiment of my invention is illustrated in the drawingsaccompanying this specification and wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevation of a ventilator, as mounted on a deck, orthe like, shown in section;

FIGURE 2, a fragmentary top plan view, with parts broken away, showingportions of the frame and of the upper bafiie member mounted thereon ineffective waterdeilecting position between said frame and perforationsin the housing as seen in FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 3, a fragmentary view in approximately central vertical sectionon the line 33 of FIGURE 1;

IGURE 4, a fragmentary view in vertical section on the line -4 of FIGURE2, showing the position of laterally positioned depending legs of thebaffle member in relation to the frame and in water deflecting relationto 2 perforations at the ends of the series of perforations in thetransversely disposed wall portion of the housing, as seen in FIGURES land 3;

FIGURE 5, a fragmentary view in vertical section on the line 5-5 ofFIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6, a bottom plan view showing structural features of the baseincluding a lower bathe in the form of a peripheral flange extendingfrom a central sleeve;

FIGURE 7, a fragmentary view in vertical section on the line 77 ofFIGURE 6, showing the base mounted on a deck, or the like, with itscentral sleeve extending through a hole therein; and

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary view in vertical section on the line --8 ofFIGURE 6 showing a bedding or sealing compound filler in the groovesformed between ribs of the base which, when mounted as in FIGURE6, havetheir edges closely engaging portions of the deck surface surroundingthe opening in the deck.

Referring to said drawings, an embodiment of my invention includes, asseen in FIG. 3, an integrally formed base bearing member or mountingplate A preferably of a suitable plastic such as polystyrene, butyrateor the like having a sleeve It) which fits into a hole 11 in a deck orwall 12 and has a peripheral flange 13 which provides a lower batheintegral and coaxial with said sleeve and provided at its underside withradially spaced downwardly extending concentric ribs 14 and 15 betweenwhich are spaces or grooves for receiving a filler 16 of sealing orbedding compound or other suitable substance. Said flange is beveled atits peripheral edge 13a to more effectively deflect water which washesin along the deck under the outer edge or skirt of the ventilatorhousing. Base A is secured to a portion of deck 12 surrounding hole 11by screws 17 applied through holes I8, FIGURE 6, in said flange I3. Asseen in FIGURE 7, the upper end portions of the shanks of said screwspass through and are in efi'ect sealed in the filler mass 16 when thebase is mounted in place on deck 12. Also when the base is so mounted,ribs I4, 15 and the filler mass 16 between them press closely againstthe outer deck surface and thus prevent leakage of water from outsideinto the space between sleeve It and hole 11.

As seen in FIGS. 6 and 7, sleeve It) is formed with a narrow annularbeveled flange 19 projecting inwardly from its inner surface and withbosses extending inwardly in position to provide angularly spaced flatbearing faces 122 for a purpose to be described.

A ventilator according to the present invention also includes anintegrally formed frame or spider indicated generally at B whichprovides a centrally positioned generally cylindrical air duct with anair inlet end 2% at the upper side of deck 12 and flange 13, as viewedin FIG- UPE 3, and an air outlet end 21 extending through said sleeve Itand open at the underside of deck 12. Said outlet end 21 of said airduct engages and is freely rotatable on the bearing surfaces 19a ofsleeve 10 to provide effective guiding and retaining means for the frameB with minimum friction between said air duct portion thereof and saidsleeve 10.

Frame B includes a peripheral annular outer wall 22 radially spaced fromsaid inner end 29 of the duct and also a depending annular rib 23 spacedoutwardly from an intermediate portion of said duct and formingtherewith, in effect, an annular groove, the under face of said rib 23when the parts are assembled being adapted to ride on opposed portionsof the upper face of flange 13. As seen in FIG. 3 said annular rib 23overlaps or telescopes with the upper end 11a of sleeve II which fitsinto said annular groove to form a snug jo' t between said base A andfrace B but permitting free turning of said frame in relation to thebase. A web having angularly spaced radial arms 24- connects outer wail22 to the inner end 20 3 of said duct and provides water dischargingports 25 between said arms and between said outer wallZZ and said rib23:. Said arms are provided with longitudinally extending ribs .26 whichserve both to strengthen the fume structure md to support a baffle in amanner to be described.

As seen in FIG. 3, arms 2'4 and thus ports 25 of frame B are spacedvertically above deflector fiange 13 of the bearing A thus providing aguiding path for water discharging through said ports. And theperipheral portion of said flange 13 in addition to serving as a lowerbafile against flooding from :the deck is also positioned to facililatethe discharge of water outwardly or :away from the joint between rib 23and the opposed top surface of flange 13 and from around screws 17toward said deck.

The frame or integral pant B is preferably made of suitable flexibleplastic, as polystyrene, butyrate or the like, provided with angularlyspaced wedge-shaped lugs 27 extending radially outwardly from an outletend portion of the air duct. Said lugs are so positioned and dimensionedthat when the air duct is pushed downwardly through sleeve and past thebeveled face of flange 19 to the position shown in FIG. 3, the duct wellbeing sumciently resilient will yield inwardly to allow the lugs to passsaid he eled flange to and through the outlet end of the duct. Uponreaching end position, said lugs snap outwardly to interlock with saidflange 19 and the lower edge of sleeve Thus, said parts are retainedagainst accidental disengagement wlule frame B remains free to rotate inrelatien to base A.

An upper baffle, as C, also of suitable plastic material includes adeflector plate 23 advantageously of domed crosssectional contour,provided at its under or concave side with a finger-piece 29. Legsextending downwardly from the peripheral edge of deflector 2S andintegual therewith are notched at 31 to straddle the ridges of ribs 26of frame B. Said ribs are provided with abutments 32 which are widerthan said notches 31 and thus, when the parts are assembled, affordpositive stops to retain said battle with its deflector portion insubstantially coaxial relation to the air duct and so that its outerperipheral edge extends radially beyond the air inlet end 29 of said airduct and spaced therefrom vertically to permit unobstructed passage ofair around said edge into said duct.

The parts B and C heretofore described are permanently assembled with ahousing, as D, to form a unit assembly, FIGURES l 3. Said housing ispreferably in the form of a plastic, as butyrate, shell of generallyhemispherical or dome shape interrupted by a perforated transverselateral wall portion consisting in part of bars 34 and arranged at oneside of and at an angle to the shell axis and at an angle to arelatively flat top wall portion 35. Said laterzd wall is provided withperforations in the form of approximately vertical slits 33 separated bysaid bars 3 It is contemplated that the aggregate opening area of slits33 will be less than that of the water discharge ports 25 in frame B,FIGURE 2, so that, when the ventilator ships water, the incoming volumewill always be less than the drainage or discharge capacity of saidports 25 and thereby avoid flooding into the entry end 21} of the airduct of frame B. As seen in FIG. 3, the bottom ends of bars 3 arearranged substantially in an are or obtuse angle arching forwardly sothat the bars are in effect disposed in two planes acutely inclined totop wall 35 and at an angle to each other. The arrangement heredescribed provides inclined surfaces for deflecting Water away from theslits 33 which afford adequate air passages while said bars 34effectively intercept and deflect foreign bodies, insects and the likeaway from said slits.

As seen in FlGURES 3 and 5, the flared skirt portion of housing D isformed with an inwardly exposed annular shoulder 36 which provides aseat adapted to engage the upper edge of outer wall 22 of frame B whenhousing D 4 l is perman ntly assembled with said frame. In the formshown, the outer cylindrical surface of outer wall 22 is adhesively orotherwise eifectively secured to the opposed annular inner surface ofsaid housing. Thus, the parts B, C and D are securely and permanentlyfixed in a unit assembly which can be supplied as such along with theinitially separate part A.

As seen in the duawings, upper baffle C is permanently secured on fnarneB with two of its four legs so engaged with ribs as that thediametrically opposed laterally arranged legs 38, for example, FlG RE 4,are positioned in water deflecting relation to the relatively shortslits 33a at the ends of the series of slits 33. To this extent said twolegs supplement the water deflecting function of the main deflector 23of batlle C.

When mounted on the deck or" a boat, for example, the parts abovedescribed are assembled as shown in FIG. 3, with the sleeve lo of base Asecured in hole 11 of deck 2; with frame B mounted to rotate freely onbase A; with baffle C secured in water-deflecting position on frame B;and with housing D secured to me B and rotatable therew: to differentoserating pos ions. A duct cover E has a nmge 3'7 which fits snugly intothe air discharge end 21 of the air duct to close said duct when theventilator is not in use.

In operation, with the cover E removed from the inner end of the duct,when rain or sea and air drive through slits 33, the water strikesdeflector 2-3 and/ or the laterally disposed legs 3% and pours pastperipheral edge portions of the deflector 28 toward and through theports 2.5, some of it striking peripheral portions of flange 13 of baseA and naming off to t .e deck 12 through the annular gap between saidflange edge and the skirt edge of housing D. Or, when rain or sea drivesagainst the skirt of housing D, part of the water may be deflected bythe flared edge portion thereof; and the beveled edge l3a of flange 13tends to deflect waterfront the space between said edge and the skirtportion of said housing D.

If conditions so require, housing D along with frame B and baffle C maybe rotated freely by hand around their common axis and in relation tobase A by reaching through the m'r duct, gripping finger piece 29 of theb aille and turning the same to 1 uch extent and in such direction asmay be desired.

This application ing application Serial I claim:

1. A ventilator adapted to be mounted in operative relation to anopening extending through a deck, or the like, and comprising incombination a base attachable to the deck, and having an opening forco-axial alignment with such deck opening, a frame rotatably mounted foradjustment to difierent angular positions on said base and having an airduct extending coaxially therethrough and a web portion having angularlyspaced arms extending radially from said air duct and providing betweenthem water discharge ports arranged around and outside of said duct, ahousing of generally convex dome-like contour mounted on said frame andhaving a re-entrant portion defined by asubstantially fiat top wall anda laterally exposed transverse wall joining said top wall at its inneredge and extending upwardly therefrom at an angle thereto and providedwith perforations opening therethrough, and a bafile mounted in saidhousing in operative position between said perforations therein and saidair duct and said discharge ports whereby water entering the housingthrough said perforations is deflected from the inlet end of the airduct by said baffle in a direction to disis a continuation-in-part of mypendcharge through said ports while air entering through said 7perforations is permitted to pass the baffle and move into and throughthe air duct and wherein said base includes a sleeve arranged andadapted to extend through said opening in the deck and a peripheralflange embracing and extending radially from an end portion of saidsleeve and provided at its underside with spaced concentric depend- No.17,992, filed March 28, 1960.

ing annular ribs coaxial with and spaced from said sleeve and arrangedand adapted to receive between them a supply of sealing compound and toretain the same in sealing contact with a deck surface when the base isin operative assembled position thereon, and means for securing the baseto a deck or the like with said ribs bearing against said surface.

2. A ventilator according to claim 1, and wherein said sleeve includesbosses extending radially inwardly from an inner surface thereof andarranged and adapted .to provide angularly spaced bearings for guidingengagement with portions of the outer surface of said air duct.

3. A ventilator according to claim 1 and wherein an outer edge portionof said peripheral flange of the base is beveled at its underside andthe skirt portion of said housing is flared outwardly substantiallyopposite to and spaced from said beveled edge of said flange wherebywater moving across said deck under said skirt periphery is prevented bysaid beveled flange from entering the housing through the space betweensaid skirt and the beveled edge of said flange.

4. A ventilator according to claim 1 and wherein said frame has adepending annular rib spaced radially from said air duct and which bearson said flange of the base and interengages with said base inoverlapping relation to upper end portions of said sleeve thereof toarrest leakage of Water between said sleeve and said frame.

5. A ventilator adapted to be mounted in operative relation to anopening extending through a deck, or the like, and comprising incombination a base attachable to the deck, and having an opening forco-axial alignment with such deck opening, a frame rotatably mounted foradjust ment to dilferent angular positions on said base and having anair duct extending coaxially therethrough and a web portion havingangularly spaced arms extending radially from said air duct andproviding between them water discharge ports arranged around and outsideof said duct, a housing of generally convex dome-like contour mounted onsaid frame and having a re-entrant portion defined by a substantiallyflat top wall and a laterally exposed transverse wall joining said topWall at its inner edge and extending upwardly therefrom at an anglethereto and provided with perforations opening therethrough, and abafiie mounted in said housing in operative position between saidperforations therein and said air duct and said discharge ports wherebywater entering the housing through said perforations is deflected fromthe inlet end of the air duct by said baffle in a direction to dischargethrough said ports while air entering through said perforations ispermitted to pass the badle and move into and through the air duct andwherein said base includes a sleeve provided at its discharge end withan annular flange extending inwardly and having an exposed oblique faceand, said air duct is provided at its discharge end with angularlyspaced outwardly extending lugs which are movable across said obliqueface of said flange and extend under and slidably engage inner end edgeportions of said base.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,319,526 Hauser Oct. 21, 1919 2,157,609 Hopkins May 9, 1939 2,711,126Atkinson June 21, 1955 2,939,375 Herman June 7, 1960 3,062,125Henneberger Nov. 6, 1962

5. A VENTILATOR ADAPTED TO BE MOUNTED IN OPERATIVE RELATION TO ANOPENING EXTENDING THROUGH A DECK, OR THE LIKE, AND COMPRISING INCOMBINATION A BASE ATTACHABLE TO THE DECK, AND HAVING AN OPENING FORCO-AXIAL ALIGNMENT WITH SUCH DECK OPENING, A FRAME ROTATABLY MOUNTED FORADJUSTMENT TO DIFFERENT ANGULAR POSITIONS ON SAID BASE AND HAVING AN AIRDUCT EXTENDING COAXIALLY THERETHROUGH AND A WEB PORTION HAVING ANGULARLYSPACED ARMS EXTENDING RADIALLY FROM SAID AIR DUCT AND PROVIDING BETWEENTHEM WATER DISCHARGE PORTS ARRANGED AROUND AND OUTSIDE OF SAID DUCT, AHOUSING OF GENERALLY CONVEX DOME-LIKE CONTOUR MOUNTED ON SAID FRAME ANDHAVING A RE-ENTRANT PORTION DEFINED BY A SUBSTANTIALLY FLAT TOP WALL ANDA LATERALLY EXPOSED TRANSVERSE WALL JOINING SAID TOP WALL AT ITS INNEREDGE AND EXTENDING UPWARDLY THEREFROM AT AN ANGLE THERETO AND PROVIDEDWITH PERFORATIONS OPENING THERETHROUGH, AND A BAFFLE MOUNTED IN SAIDHOUSING IN OPERATIVE POSITION BETWEEN SAID PERFORATIONS THEREIN AND SAIDAIR DUCT AND SAID DISCHARGE PORTS WHEREBY WATER ENTERING THE HOUSINGTHROUGH SAID PERFORATIONS IS DEFLECTED FROM THE INLET END OF THE AIRDUCT BY SAID BAFFLE IN A DIRECTION TO DISCHARGE THROUGH SAID PORTS WHILEAIR ENTERING THROUGH SAID PERFORATIONS IS PERMITTED TO PASS THE BAFFLEAND MOVE INTO AND THROUGH THE AIR DUCT AND WHEREIN SAID BASE INCLUDES ASLEEVE PROVIDED AT ITS DISCHARGE END WITH AN ANNULAR FLANGE EXTENDINGINWARDLY AND HAVING AN EXPOSED OBLIQUE FACE AND, SAID AIR DUCT ISPROVIDED AT ITS DISCHARGE END WITH ANGULARLY SPACED OUTWARDLY EXTENDINGLUGS WHICH ARE MOVABLE ACROSS SAID OBLIQUE FACE OF SAID FLANGE ANDEXTEND UNDER AND SLIDABLY ENGAGE INNER END EDGE PORTIONS OF SAID BASE.